Bowel Elimination

One of the most important priorities of Total Home Health is striving to maintain your comfort.  In order to do so, our professionals have to provide you with excellent care in order to keep you healthy, safe and satisfied.  Overall health is comprised of numerous factors, and each one must be kept in balance in order for you to function at your most optimal level.

Bowel elimination is an important factor that should be maintained in order for you to keep your health balanced.  For some of us bowel elimination poses no problems at all, while others seem to struggle to find a happy medium.  At any given time, you may be faced with conditions or situations that may otherwise begin to change your bowel elimination patterns…this is when Total Home Health professionals will take charge and get you back on the right track!

Medical interventions, such as surgery, being immobile for an extended period of time, having to take certain medications, and modifications to your usual diet can all play a role in compromising your normal bowel elimination routines.  Our main focus at Total Home Health is on the older adult population.  However, various factors affect bowel elimination at different stages of life...including:

• Age
• Older adults have a decrease in peristalsis…or a decline in the ability of the intestines to squeeze and push the bowel waste throughout the intestines and out via elimination.
• Relaxation of sphincters is notable also in the older adult population, which could result in bowel incontinence due to being unable to hold the waste in.
• Diet
• It is important to always consume an adequate amount of dietary fiber. 
• The recommended daily value of fiber is 25-30 grams per day.
• Some individuals may suffer from lactose intolerance…meaning they have difficulty ingesting milk products and could have bouts of diarrhea.
• Fluids
• The recommended fluid requirement is 2,000 to 3,000 mL/day from both fluid and food sources in order to maintain a healthy functioning intestinal tract.
• Physical Activity
• Any amount of physical activity should be encouraged to help to stimulate intestinal activity.
• Of course activity should always be encouraged, but only completed as each individual is able to tolerate…you should never overexert yourself because it could end up causing more problems.
• Psychosocial Factors
• Emotional distress and other chronic conditions such as colitis, Crohn’s disease, ulcers, and irritable bowel syndrome can all irritate the intestinal tract and cause an increase in peristalsis…this will result in bouts of diarrhea.
• Personal Habits
• In the older adult population, you may notice a sort of predisposition with bowel elimination patterns.  For example, some older adults strongly believe that they should have a least 1 bowel movement a day…and if this does not occur they will find this very problematic and begin to depend on daily use of laxatives. 
• In reality medical professionals find it normal if individuals have 1 bowel movement at least every 3 days, if it were to extend past 3 days…then additional interventions will most likely be implemented to produce results.
• Some individuals find it difficult to have a bowel movement in a public place, or where there is a lack of privacy…such as if hospitalized.
• NEVER avoid the urge to have a bowel movement, if you have to go…GO!  If not, you may be placing yourself at risk for diarrhea or constipation the longer you wait.
• Positioning
• Obviously the normal position for bowel elimination is squatting…which is what we do when we sit on the toilet.
• For those who are immobilized and laying down…having a bowel movement may be rather difficult.
• Pain
• Pain in any situation will most likely cause individuals to avoid it altogether.
• Normally, having a bowel movement should be painless and any discomfort will lead to suppressing the urge to even go at all.
• Certain medications, such as use of pain medications may place you at an increased risk for constipation.
• Surgical Procedures & Anesthesia
• The trauma surgery causes and the anesthesia used will cause a temporary slowing of intestinal activity.

Medications

• Laxatives are used to soften the stool.
• Cathartics are used to promote peristalsis…or to get things moving.
• Abuse of laxatives will lead to diarrhea and dehydration in the long run.

Total Home Health understands that maintaining an optimal bowel pattern is important on your list in order to keep your health balanced.  With your beliefs and wishes in mind, we will educate you on how to best keep up with a good elimination pattern, while encouraging you to make any changes as we see fit.  Frequent client assessments will be completed while you are in our care and if we were to come across any elimination problems, we would immediately bring them to the attention of your medical provider and quickly put interventions into place to relieve your discomfort.  Enroll with Total Home Health today and our professionals will show you that we believe in keeping you comfortable, satisfied, healthy and safe to the best of our ability because we know life is short and you want to live